Dissorophoidea
Encyclopedia
Dissorophoideans are a clade
of medium-sized, temnospondyl
amphibians that appeared during the Late Pennsylvanian in Euramerica
, and continued through to the Late Permian and even possibly the Early Triassic of Gondwana
(if Micropholis
belongs here). They are distinguished by various details of the skull, and many forms seem to have been well adapted for life on land.
It has been suggested that they may be ancestral to the Frogs (Reisz, no date) or even the Lissamphibia as a whole, in which case the latter would be included in this clade.
It is possible that the small Permo-Carboniferous Micromelerpetontidae
and the large Late Permian Melosauridae may also belong in this clade.
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
of medium-sized, temnospondyl
Temnospondyli
Temnospondyli is a diverse order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished worldwide during the Carboniferous, Permian, and Triassic periods. A few species continued into the Cretaceous. Fossils have been found on every continent...
amphibians that appeared during the Late Pennsylvanian in Euramerica
Euramerica
Euramerica was a minor supercontinent created in the Devonian as the result of a collision between the Laurentian, Baltica, and Avalonia cratons .300 million years ago in the Late Carboniferous tropical rainforests lay over the equator of Euramerica...
, and continued through to the Late Permian and even possibly the Early Triassic of Gondwana
Gondwana
In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
(if Micropholis
Micropholis (amphibian)
Micropholis is an extinct genus of dissorophoid temnospondyl. Fossils have been found from the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of the Karoo Basin in South Africa, and date back to the Early Triassic...
belongs here). They are distinguished by various details of the skull, and many forms seem to have been well adapted for life on land.
It has been suggested that they may be ancestral to the Frogs (Reisz, no date) or even the Lissamphibia as a whole, in which case the latter would be included in this clade.
It is possible that the small Permo-Carboniferous Micromelerpetontidae
Micromelerpetontidae
The Micromelerpetontidae was a family of Temnospondyli....
and the large Late Permian Melosauridae may also belong in this clade.
External links
- Dissorophoidea - Palaeos
- Dissorophoidea - Mikko's Phylogeny Archive